Turkey: Police fire tear gas at religious constitution protest

Turkish police Tuesday fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had gathered outside parliament to protest a call for the country to adopt a religious constitution.

Riot police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators during a protest against parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman, outside the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey April 26, 2016.

Police broke up a group of more than 100 protesters, preventing them from making a press declaration outside the parliament in Ankara, an AFP photographer reported.

The group chanted the slogan “Turkey will remain secular”.

A few protesters were detained by police, the photographer reported. Similar protests were also expected in other cities.

Parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said Monday the predominantly Muslim country “must have a religious constitution”, adding to concerns of creeping Islamisation under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).